April 24, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Next year’s US presidential debates will go online, according to a statement from Yahoo! Yahoo!, in conjunction with The Huffington Post and Slate, will host debates that will be moderated by Mr. Charlie Rose and involve both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.
The debates will be hosted on the websites of the organizers and voters will be given a chance to ask candidates direct questions. "We intend for these debates to be a groundbreaking mix of old and new traditions in politics," explained Mr. Rose. "2008 will be a momentous year for the electoral process in America, thanks in large part to technology and politics connecting like never before. I am proud to host the first ever online only debate, which will reach and engage the voting audience in a whole new way."
"With presidential candidates announcing online and with campaign ads and fundraising increasingly online, presidential campaigns are moving to the Internet at breakneck speed. Online debates are the inevitable next step," added The Huffington Post’s Co-founder and Editor-in-chief, Arianna Huffington. "We are thrilled to be joining with Internet pioneers Yahoo! and Slate to host the first online presidential debates, and to have Charlie Rose as our moderator. These debates represent a further merging of new media technology and politics, and are a great opportunity to bring more people into the political process, and engage the new generation of young voters who spend so much of their time - and get so much of their information - online."
The candidates involved in the debates will be able to participate from a number of different locations and alongside real-time questions, candidates will be asked to answer questions provided on video. "The 2008 campaign is going to unfold on the web in a way no previous election ever has," added Slate’s editor, Mr. Jacob Weisberg. "We hope these first online debates will be a breakthrough, both in terms of technology and political communication. The candidates will be able to have a real discussion in real time -- but without having to be in the same place. We think the Internet can bring the same kind of immediacy to presidential debates that it has to other aspects of the political process."
"We're opening the doors of democracy for American voters to participate in the Presidential debates like never before," explained the Head of News and Information at Yahoo!, Mr. Scott Moore. "Armchair politics will take on new meaning this election season, as we're offering voters the opportunity to ask the candidates what's on their mind."
For more see http://elections.yahoo.com.
